@babel/plugin-transform-json-modules

Transforms import ... with { type: "json" } declarations to platform-specific API to read and then JSON.parse the imported file.

The transformation applied by this plugin depends on your top-level targets to detect whether the generated code should be compatible with Node.js, browsers, or both. When targeting Node.js, the generated code will also change depending on whether you are compiling modules to CommonJS or not.

caution

This plugin cannot be used when compiling modules to AMD, SystemJS, or UMD.

caution

This plugin only transforms import declarations and not dynamic import() calls.

Example

input.js

import data from "./data.json" with { type: "json" };

will be transformed to

Browsers

output.js

const data = await fetch(import.meta.resolve("./data.json")).then(r => r.json());

Node.js (ESM)

output.mjs

import { readFileSync as _readFileSync } from "fs";
const data = JSON.parse(_readFileSync(new URL(import.meta.resolve("./data.json"))));

Node.js (CommonJS)

output.cjs

"use strict";

const data = JSON.parse(require("fs").readFileSync(require.resolve("./data.json")));

Browsers and Node.js (ESM)

output.js

const data = await (
  typeof process === "object" && process.versions?.node
    ? import("fs").then(fs => fs.promises.readFile(new URL(import.meta.resolve("./data.json")))).then(JSON.parse)
    : fetch(import.meta.resolve("./data.json")).then(r => r.json())
);

Installation

npm

npm install --save-dev @babel/plugin-transform-json-modules

Yarn

yarn add --dev @babel/plugin-transform-json-modules

pnpm

pnpm add --save-dev @babel/plugin-transform-json-modules

Bun

bun add --dev @babel/plugin-transform-json-modules

Usage

With a configuration file (Recommended)

babel.config.json

{
  "plugins": ["@babel/plugin-transform-json-modules"]
}

Via CLI

Shell

babel --plugins=@babel/plugin-transform-json-modules script.js

Via Node API

JavaScript

require("@babel/core").transformSync("code", {
  plugins: ["@babel/plugin-transform-json-modules"],
});

Options

uncheckedRequire

Type: boolean
Default: false
Added in v7.25.0

When set to true, the plugin will generate a simpler output by using require directly to import the JSON file. When targeting CommonJS, this option leads to output that is easier to analyze for bundlers but doesn't check that the module being imported is actually JSON:

In

import data from "./data.json" with { type: "json" };

Out (without uncheckedRequire: true)

const data = JSON.parse(require("fs").readFileSync(require.resolve("./data.json")));

Out (with uncheckedRequire: true)

const data = require("./data.json");

References

• Proposal: JSON Modules